Professor Jerry Hass was known for his ability to clearly explain complex concepts,
as he was doing in this photo from 1986.

Intellectual Capital

A Fond Farewell to Jerry Hass

Jerome “Jerry” E. Hass, Professor Emeritus of Finance and Business
Strategy at Johnson and Cornell University’s Alan Krause Faculty
Fellow in Real Estate Finance, died unexpectedly on Monday, Jan.
22, in Ithaca. Previously Johnson’s James B. Rubin Professor of
Finance, Jerry was a beloved faculty member at Cornell, where he
taught many generations of grateful students beginning in 1967.
Jerry retired to emeritus status in 2008, yet remained actively
involved at Johnson. At a celebration in the Dyson Atrium of
Sage Hall in June of that year, Jerry quoted the Beatles: “You say
goodbye, I say hello, hello, hello,” he said. “It’s a strange kind of
retirement, because I’m not going anywhere!”
Calling him a “scholar, architect, visionary...one who sees opportunity
and fulfills it,” Professor Emeritus of Accounting and
long-time colleague Tom Dyckman said that “Hass has taught
more courses and more students than anyone in the history of the
Johnson School.”

Indeed, Jerry continued to actively teach at Johnson; it was
a vocation about which he was passionate. He was scheduled
to teach Cornell Lectures in Finance in spring 2013, a popular
course, which brought high-level finance professionals to his Sage
Hall classroom.

While Jerry’s engaging teaching style was legendary among
several generations of MBA students, he was also a nationally
recognized expert in the areas of corporate finance, energy and
regulatory economics and policy, applied microeconomics, managerial
finance, security analysis and investment management, and
business strategy. He had testified more than fifty times in state
and federal regulatory and judicial systems, as well as before both
houses of Congress.

Jerry received a BA degree from St. Mary’s University
in Winona, Minn., an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania
(Wharton), and a PhD degree in economics from
Carnegie-Mellon University. During his distinguished
career at Cornell University, he served Johnson in many
capacities, including director of the Public Administration
Program (1979-1982); director of the Managerial
Skills Program (1994-95); coordinator of the Investment
Banking Immersion Program (1998-2001); and academic
director of the Executive MBA Program (1998-2000).
His writings include co-authorship with long-time
friend and colleague Harold “Hal” Bierman Jr. of the
seminal text, An Introduction to Managerial Finance (1973).
Jerry also served as special consultant to the National
Economic Research Associates, Inc. beginning in 1983,
and as senior consultant to Charles River Associates
beginning in 2011.

The post-retirement years saw Jerry actively consulting, serving
on boards, tending his farm, enjoying his five children and ten
grandchildren, and traveling with his wife, Jo. He also continued
working as company treasurer for Ithaca Agway, a business owned
by his daughter and son-in-law, Marna and Andy Boerman.

Jerry shared his love of country living with the Johnson
community for 26 years at an annual Johnson Graduation Picnic,
held each May on the Hass Farm, 16 miles north of Ithaca. “Like
Cornell’s graduation,” Jerry wrote in his annual invitation, “We
defer this picnic only when a tornado has been spotted.” The Hass
family welcomed graduates, visiting family members, children,
faculty, staff, friends — all were invited to the annual celebration.
“We expect more than 250 people, but have virtually unlimited
capacity,” Jerry wrote. That unlimited capacity extended far
beyond the party, to virtually every area of a life lead with utmost
generosity.

One of my most memorable hours in a class at Cornell was the hour I spent in a class given by Jerry Haas at a reunion.

I was graduated in 1962 but didn't come to my first reunion until 20 years later, so it was in the early 1980's.
Not knowing what to expect, I learned that there were classes which most of the alums attended. Having gone through 4 years of college and right into 2 years of MBA school, I had had my fill of classes. Since everyone at the reunion was going to classes I decided to go along. Prior to entering the classroom, I had never heard of Jerry Haas. I am from the Art Nilsson days.

The hour was magic - informative and entertaining.
Jerry started off having all of us flip quarters with tails out. After 8 rounds, one person was left, described as "the fund manager right 8 years in a row."
Then he told us if we invested in stocks in 10 different industries with each stock $20 or less, we could have full benefits of a mutual fund without any fees.

After class I asked him to recommend one stock as an example. He declined, I persisted, and he finally said Mid-South Utilities. I later bought 100 shares at $12.50, the company changed its name to Entergy, and went to a high of $120, not to mention generous dividends. I never sold and I think it is in the 60's but I see Jerry's reluctant advice as paying for my reunions for life.
At my last reunion I reminded him of his advice and how well it worked out.